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Saturday, August 3, 2013

FOUR FATHERS interview series: BL Pawelek

It's the third installment of our four-part author interview series! We partnered with Cobalt Press, a brand spanking new small press publisher, to help spread the word about their kickstarter event for FOUR FATHERS, a collection of fatherly essays and stories by contributing authors Tom Williams, Ben Tanzer, BL Pawelek, and Dave Housley. (The kickstarter event closes on Monday. Feel free to check it out and if you are so inclined, throw a few bucks at it. You know you want to. Would I steer you wrong?)

BL Pawelek:
When it comes male/fatherly influences in my life, there are really only two:
writers Edward Abbey and Charles Bukowski. I first started reading them when I
was 20, and I stuck with both of them for the next 15ish years. For me, that was
a crucial timeframe of growth and development.

Both
writers had many, many positive and negative aspects. Both of them were great
examples of what a man/father could be, as well as should not be. I took bits
and pieces of both of them to start growing into the father I am
today.

I
try to thank them every opportunity I get.

TW: What,
if any, impact has fatherhood had on your writing life?

BP:
For me, the biggest impact was in added/different subject matter. I am a huge
“write what you know” type of writer. Before children, my writing was squarely
centered in hiking, adventure, or nature writing. With the birth of my kids, it
all changed. Almost all of my writing, and certainly some of “the best”, has
something to do with my family.

TW: How
do you do it all: husband, father, writer, wage-earner, triathelete?

BP:
Well, out of all of them, the writer takes a back seat. The writing only happens
when there is extra time and some motivation, which does not happen often
lately.

As
for the rest, I really think they aim toward the same goals: a successful and
loving family.

As
a husband, I truly believe I am the first and most important example of what a
husband is supposed to be like to my son and daughter. An example of how a
husband should treat and support his wife.

As
a wage-earner, I have been so lucky and fortunate to have an awesome career in
communications that is flexible and family friendly. Although I have been
tempted with other “better” jobs, I have always declined for the fringe benefits
of walking my kid to the bus stop, school lunches, and gymnastics
practice.

As
for the athlete, to be frank, I want to be as healthy as I can to stick around
with my family. So I run a lot, and I hike a lot, and bike a lot. Plus, I
actually really like to do those things, and I am a bit of a
competitor.

Also,
the honest truth. I could not do any of this well if I did not have an awesome
wife, partner and love.

TW: Of
we four, you're the only one with a daughter: is your dadhood any different with
the boy and the girl?

BP:
Completely different, mainly because they are different children with very
different personalities, traits, and interests. However, it is the little things
that make the biggest differences. For example, while I am writing this, my
daughter is sitting on my feet, brushing her dolls hair, asking me if it is ok
if we name her “Tangled” because her hair is so tangled, waiting for her mom to
paint her nails. Her brother is doing what I did as a child – watching Spiderman
after wearing himself out playing outside.

One
of the best things about raising a daughter for me was that I knew absolutely
nothing about it. I was one of three boys in my family, raised mostly with boys
in the neighborhood. It wasn’t until I was 40 that I started watching the Disney
movies with my daughter, realizing the differences between Sleeping Beauty, Snow
White and Cinderella – which eventually became some of the subject matter of my
writing for this project.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

B.L. Pawelek is a husband, dad, and hiker living in Eden Prairie, MN. He
attended to Loyola Marymount University and has had his poetry and photography
published in numerous journals. His previous poetry collections include
Always/Siempre (Concepcion Books - 2013), So Hold Me Tight and Hold Me
Tight (Artistically Declined Press - 2012) and The Equation of
Constants (Artistically Declined Press - 2011). He has also been
nominated for the Pushcart and Best of the Net prizes.

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I have been buried beneath small press and self-published review copies since 2009. My passion for supporting the small press and self publishing communities has driven me out into the world wide web to demonstrate alternative ways to spread the word about amazing publishers, authors, and novels you might never had heard of. Feeding your reading addiction, one book at a time.